LIFE 02 NAT/UK/8544 New Forest Wetland Management Plan branding of new foals, marking (the tail is trimmed to a particular pattern to indicate which area/Agister is assigned to) and removal of any animals that commoners want to sell or return to their holding. Checks can also be made that animals are legally depastured and ‘marking fees’ paid where appropriate. Table 3-22: Commoning Rights Rights Definition Common of pasture for commonable Applies to ponies, cattle, donkeys, and mules. animals Applies to 65,000 acres of private enclosed land in and around the New Forest as calculated by the 1858 Register of Claims. Allows animals to graze freely on the Open Forest and certain Inclosures on Crown Lands and adjacent commons Common of pasture for sheep Confined to certain former monastic property in the S.E. of the Forest and to a few fields in the extreme NW. Right is not currently exercised. Common of mast Right to turn out pigs in the autumn to eat acorns. Mast season generally runs for 60 days. Common of turbury and common of marl No longer exercised Estovers Right to receive free firewood annually from the Forestry Commission. Less than 100 households benefit from this Right. As well as the Crown Lands stock can graze freely on the Adjacent Commons. The Adjacent Commons (Table 3-23 and Figure 23) are areas of common land, contiguous with or near the New Forest. They fall under the docrine of right of vicinage which states that where two commons adjoin, stock which may be depastured by right on one common, may wander freely between both. Therefore animals depastured on the Adjacent Commons can wander freely onto Crown Land. Stock depastured on the Forest comprise ponies, cattle, donkeys and at certain times of the year Pigs can be turned out under the “Right of Mast” to eat the acorns which are potentially toxic to horses and cattle. Ponies form the greatest proportion of stock on the Forest while cattle form a larger proportion on the Adjacent Commons as shown in Figure 24. The large dip in stock numbers in 2001 was due to the Foot and Mouth Crisis. Commoning is under pressure from poor financial returns, soaring house prices which prevent the younger generation of commoners from acquiring property from which to continue their commoning rights and the high percentage of commoners who are of an age where they will inevitably give up commoning in the next 10-25 years. There are also a number of key issues relating to commoning and sustainable wetland restoration which are discussed more fully in section 3.8.6. 3.67 LIFE 02 NAT/UK/8544 New Forest Wetland Management Plan Figure 24: Stock Numbers 3.68 LIFE 02 NAT/UK/8544 New Forest Wetland Management Plan Table 3-23: Adjacent Commons Adjacent Common Ownership Hyde Common Hampshire County Council Gorley Hill Hampshire County Council Ibsley Common National Trust & Hampshire County Council Rockford Common National Trust, Hampshire County Council & several private owners Hightown Common National Trust Kingston Great Common Private Hale Purlieu National Trust North Charford Common Private Plaitford Common National Trust West Wellow Common Parish Council Half Moon Common National Trust Cadnam and Furzley Commons National Trust Minstead Manor Private 3.8.4 Recreation The public has had access to a large part of the Forest within the Perambulation on foot and on horseback since time immemorial. Today, recreation and access in the New Forest is overseen by a variety of organisations and individuals including the Forestry Commission’s, National Trust, Hampshire County Council, private estates and other individuals. In the future, the new National Park Authority is also likely to adopt a key strategic role. The main recreational uses within the Perambulation are managed by the Forestry Commission and are shown in Table 3-24. The Forestry Commission’s Access and Recreation Plan guides the policies and strategies for managing and developing recreational access. The Forestry Commission operates a policy of permissive free access on foot to its land (where lease arrangements allow) and byelaws allow free access to the Crown Lands on horseback. Under the Law of Property Act 1925, most of the Crown Lands are exempt from the CROW Act but at least 800 hectares of Crown Freehold Inclosures will be dedicated for open access under the CROW Act. Cycling is restricted to a cycle network using tracks and roads around the Forest. Other activities are controlled by a licensing system. The Forestry Commission Ranger Team has a key role in educating the public about the Forest and its environment and regulating recreational activities. The powers conferred to the Forestry Commission for the provision and management of recreation under the New Forest Acts are only exercisable with the agreement of the Verderers. However the two parties have not always been able to agree whether particular items legally require the agreement of the Verderers. Therefore a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Forestry Commissioners and the Verderers of the New Forest (2002) has been drawn up to clarify the position and is intended to be binding in honour only (Appendix L). Recreational activities outside Crown Land take place at the discretion of individual land owners and activities such as walking, horseriding and off road cycling are subject to local byelaws or restricted to the Right of Way network of footpaths and bridleways. 3.69 LIFE 02 NAT/UK/8544 New Forest Wetland Management Plan However, the Countryside and Right of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) may provide some limited opportunities for new accessible green space. In terms of visitor numbers, it has been estimated that at the current time (2005) around 15 million people visit the Forest each year of which 60-70% are made by local people from surrounding villages and conurbations. Table 3-24: Recreational Use within the Forest Perambuation Recreation Use Level of Use Current Management Walking including 10 million visits per year Forestry Commission operates policy of dog walking free access on foot Horse riding 5000 horses & riders use Forestry Commission byelaws allow free New Forest access on horseback within perambulation Cycling 7% of visitors Forestry Commission operates policy of encouraging cycle access on way marked tracks Specialist recreation 1200 permits per year Activities require permits from Forestry Commission with seasonal, locational and other restrictions applying. Activities include orienteering, model boats and aircraft, hunting, fishing, BBQ, Duke of Edinburgh awards, husky training, carriage driving Other activities 900 permits per year Activities require permits from Forestry Commission with seasonal, locational and other restrictions applying. Activities include filming, car access to inclosures, military training, bee keeping Source: Forestry Commission 3.8.5 Settlements & Infrastructure Figure 25 shows the key settlements and infrastructure. It is estimated that the population contained within the National Park Boundary is around 34,400. The majority of the popula- tion is concentrated in towns and villages with the remaining found in isolated properties and hamlets scattered throughout the New Forest. Within the Forest itself the main popu- lation centres are focused in Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst and Burley. The main infrastructure routes through the Forest are the A31, A35 and A337. A network of smaller B and C class roads criss-cross the Forest linking up the major networks. The London to Weymouth railway bisects the southern half of the Forest linking Bournemouth and Southampton. 3.70 LIFE 02 NAT/UK/8544 New Forest Wetland Management Plan A network of gravel tracks gives access to the Inclosures and the Open Forest and is used for maintenance access and timber hauling. Parts of this gravel track network combined with sections of public highway are used to provide cycle routes and public access throughout the Forest. 3.8.6 Land Use Issues a) Restricted access to timber harvesting sites Wetland restoration works have resulted in the modification of some access routes within the Inclosures by taking out culverts and replacing them with fords. Timber harvesting of hardwoods takes place during the winter and there is the possibility that during wet periods when the rivers are high, it will not be possible for machinery and vehicles to use the fords, leaving certain forest stands temporarily isolated. This has already happened at the “concrete ford” in Vinney Ridge (November 05) when timber lorries were unable to cross the ford to pick up timber stacks. Although fords are only likely to be inaccessible for a matter of hours or possibly days during extreme rainfall events, plans for timber extraction routes and locations for timber stacks may need to be given additional thought during the planning stages of timber harvesting. Gauges will also need to be installed at certain fords to assist timber lorries assess the feasibility of crossing fords in flood. Additional pollution prevention measures will also have to be taken at ford crossings during timber extraction to limit excess sedimentation, including the use of Heather bales and/or booms or sediment mats. b) Location of works relative to recreational activities To date the majority of Life 3 works have taken place in areas reasonably remote from recreational pressures where the main activities are restricted to walking and riding. It has only been during the construction phase that any access restrictions have had to be imposed on safety grounds. It has been essential to ensure that crossing points have been maintained and if possible improved. There is also the perception among some users of the Forest that wetland restoration works will make the Forest less accessible. Future works are unlikely to affect the gravel track network but there may be a few instances were informal “traditional” routes cross an area of restoration.